


Monster Malign

by KaijuDile



Category: Monster Malign, Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25391962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaijuDile/pseuds/KaijuDile
Summary: This is my first chapter to my own original story, oh I can’t wait to upload more!The characters in this story are all designed and created by me for a story I was planning on making into a comic, maybe one day. ;)I hope you enjoyed!





	1. Mission 2B

Sirens were blaring, smoke rose over the rooftops of a crumbling concrete jungle, the wind carrying the smell of ash and burning metal. Down in the billowing streets the sounds of massive footsteps, gunfire and the angered howls of a monster, welcome to Ritson. Soldiers marched through the smoke, green visors lighting the path, the night vision revealing the carnage left behind by their hidden target, cars strewn left and right, buildings fractured and falling apart. The debris began to rumble, getting faster and faster until a furious roar broke through the smoke, what came through sent the soldiers flying.

A beast as large as a freight train charged through the streets, two black tusks protruding from its mouth and white quills lined the furry back of the huge mass. It rose its ape-like arms and slammed them down on an oncoming vehicle with the word Arbitrators printed on the side, the soldiers inside having dove out before the creature ended their careers as monster containment. A frustrated roar came from the beast as the soldiers cried for help into their earpieces, two tanks fired at the monster who used the buildings and smoke as its shield, it charged once more and forced the tanks back.

Above the devastation, in the densely clouded sky, hid a large helicarrier, the same name printed along the bow of the ship. On the deck there were a vast number of vehicles and airships, all capable of taking on monsters such as the ones below, more soldiers were calling and shouting orders at each other. Soldiers were filing in and out of departing and arriving airships, gurneys returning to the belly of the ship with the wounded and broken, the casualties of war. Somewhere beyond the city held a command room where a woman with light grey hair and tanned skin, a long scar gashed across her nose, she watched from the street camera views of the scene below with stern light green eyes. She would be watching the teams below, relaying orders between certain troops in order to contain the threat in the streets, a voice coming through the main communication line breaking her concentrated gaze.

"Ma’am the Goliath can't be taken down! We need backup!" A soldier cried into the communicator, the scarred woman would eye the cameras one final time before pressing a light purple button on the desk with a slightly irritated sigh.

"They better not mess this up again." She muttered.

Somewhere in the depths of the helicarrier there was loud music leaking out of a room, within it was a small bedroom with a bed above a small desk and just enough room for three people to be inside. On the bed under the covers was a small mass, peacefully resting as the music blocked out the panic beyond the bedroom walls, which was then suddenly cut off as a very loud alarm went off causing the mass to tussle under the sheets and fall to the floor with the covers still shrouded over their small form, an irritated grunt coming from the mass.

"For fucks sake, can't a girl have some chill time?" A frustrated voice emanated from under the cloth which was angrily thrown off. Under the sheet was a young, short, brown-haired woman, through that hair jutted out two purple faded horns that curve forward then up, pointed ears poked through the brown strands as she ran a large grey clawed hand through her hair. The grey skin on her hands stretched up her arms to her shoulders where three small spikes curved out, she wore a yellow vest shirt and pale brown shorts. The woman stretched out and rubbed her pale face, pulling her skin from below her deep amber eyes and down her cheeks where two black stripes resided. Around her neck was an electronic collar with a small screen and green lights, her reptilian tail sweeping the last of the sheets from her form as she got up onto her clawed grey feet, making her way to her door. Once taking a step out of the room she collided into what felt like a wall, taking a wobbled step back she looked up at the thing in her way as she rubbed her head. The mismatched girl let out an irritated hiss up at a tall dark haired man with a half scarred face, stubble growing where it was able to, his worn face would be glaring down at her with disapproving blue eyes. He was wearing the blue uniform of the soldiers with an orange cloth around his neck and grey belt, it the letter E engraved on the buckle. “Hey!”

"There’s no time for pleasentries, Rea. Come on we need to get to the next chopper before Max has a panic attack." The taller gentleman told the smaller female, he then gave her a hard nudge towards the docking bay, to which she responded with a short grumble.

"Ernest I really doubt John would let Max get into a panic, and don't fucking shove me." She made her way down the hall towards the deck, she always hated the overgrown, half-faced bastard, they never were on good terms. It wasn’t like he made it easier to like him anyway, he took every opportunity to find something to complain about her, looked like being late was going to make a reappearance on that ever growing list.

Meanwhile, on the deck, a blonde haired, slightly stocky, man paced near a small airship as he mumbled words to himself. His blue and brown eyes darting around as he tried to keep himself calm, a short sigh came from the ship behind him which briefly drew his attention.

"Max please just come sit in the ship, Rea was probably taking another nap and fell of the bed, again." A tired voice would call out from the ship as it's owner tapped their foot impatiently, his hair was shaved short and black, though he had an unshaved side that had been dyed blue and hung over to one side, his bright green eyes showing concern for his panicked friend. The man known as Max halted and stood upright as he exhaled slowly, turning to his teammate as his face became calm almost instantly. A good sign.

“Thank you John, I just want this mission to go well since-" He was halted as a small body pounced over his shoulder and landed in the doorway of the ship with a grin on their smug face as their reptilian tail flicked back and forth, they crouched down on one of the seats across from John as she stuck her purple tongue out. "Rea! What was taking so long?! This was an emergency!" Max lost his calm mood in an instant and raised his voice at the careless female, a small scoff coming from her as he lost his cool.

"Hey, if you guys actually did your jobs you wouldn't bloody need me would you?" She rolls her eyes and gave John a disinterested look. "He's such a mom." John gave a short chuckle at her remark then silenced with a small smile as Max sat down next to Rea and adjusted her collar, his smile dropped as Ernests large frame entered the ship and felt his foreboding mass sit beside him. Ernest tended to put him on edge a little but he didn't hate the guy, it was just his intimidating demeanor.

This small team was called MU-0, they were the best in their fields and were there to deal with situations others couldn't. Ernest was a weapons specialist, give him any weapon and he'll be able to use it to the best of it's capabilities, he's never doubted a single bullet he fired. Max is the commander of the group, he makes sure the team runs at it's best and that includes medical care and being Rea's caretaker. John is one of the youngest members, he is a great strategist and helps to keep Rea entertained and to be a good middle ground for the team as he's the most level headed of the group. Rea was found wandering the streets at a young age and was taken in by an orphanage, she soon grew the features she has today and was taken in by the Arbitrators, she is the teams melee force and is able to take on monsters far larger than her due to her heightened strength and skill. This team was chosen to take down the larger threats of their world, this was their third mission in the field and it had been nearly a year since their last.

The airship then made a low whirring noise as it took off, the soldiers on the platform moving away so the ship could take off with the clear direction of the chaos below, though the lights on the interior flickered faintly. John gave the flickering bulbs a sceptical look, then turned his attention to Max, who was too busy fiddling with his gadgets. As for Ernest, he was making sure their weapons were fully loaded, Rea she was just staring out of the ship. It was rare for her to leave the home base, so any view beyond its gates was a good one, John let a small smile form on his face as he cleared his throat, an elven ear flicking in his direction.

"Hey, Rea, you excited to be out for the first time in a while?" John tilted his head to one side, mimicking her own heads actions as her ears perked. He enjoyed replicating her animalistic gestures, it made her more comfortable, more normal.

"Fuck yeah! I needed some fresh air, you guys don't trust me out on the decks anymore." She crossed her arms, seemingly insulted, this earned a disapproving scoff from the large figure beside John. "Got something to say Ernie?" Rea shot him a daring glare.

"Well, you realise we don't trust you on the deck because you tried to steal an airship?" He cocked one of the guns and returned her glare. "Maybe, if you actually behaved and obeyed the rules, you wouldn't need new ones in place?" Rea just waved it off dismissively.

"You're talking out your ass, I was borrowing the airship for a joyride." She would pick at her fangs with her little claw.

"You didn't bring it back." Ernest replied flatly, Max's face grew a little more irritated by the bickering duo as he configured Rea's collar to the device in his hands.

"You didn't say please." Rea flicked whatever was in between her teeth at Ernest with a growl.

"We did, you turned off your communications hub, we had no choice but to shoot you down." Ernest’s grip on his gun tightened.

"Which fucking hurt! Have you ever been in an airship crash before?!" Rea shouts, there was a sudden bang, Rea and Ernest sat upright as Max had stomped his foot on the floor.

"That's enough you two! I swear, it's like I'm working with children sometimes!" Max's disappointed gaze flicked back and forth between the two, though their gazes seemed to have drifted to the floor. Ernest seemed upset with himself for letting his temper get to him, Rea on the other hand seemed offended she was told off when he started it. “You two still can’t go five minutes without throwing a tantrum. Ernest, act your age. Rea, watch it.”

John sighed as he glanced out of the airship, well he tried to make a half decent conversation, just sucked he was stuck with the most stubborn people in the entire base. The view was soon disrupted by large skyscrapers, an orange light going off above their heads as everyone stood up, preparing to deploy from the ship. Max went to do a final check on Rea’s collar but found her seat empty, there was a loud whirring sound as the bay doors were suddenly opening, the team’s gaze darted in the direction of the person stood at the bay door switch, bearing an eager grin, Rea.

“What are you doing?!" Max shouted over the loud noise of the streets below, Rea simply shrugged and made a start for the doors.

"Jumping." She simply stated before leaping out of the ship with a cheeky salute thrown mindlessly at Ernest who simply grumbled at the gesture. "See you on the grou-!" She called out, her voice fading as she dropped from the helicopter, Max pinched the bridge of his nose under the stupidity of Rea's actions. Once close enough to a large building Rea would grab onto a ledge which simply snapped and shattered from the force, making her draw her hand back in surprise, placing a claw against her chin. "Shit did I jump too soon?" She felt a thump from behind as Ernest grabbed her and kicked away from the building, pulling his chute out as they drifted towards the ground. "Ugh, I totally had that under control you big oaf!” Ernest simply ignored his smaller teammate’s remark and dropped her the last few feet off the ground, carefully landing down himself as he sighs in relief and glanced back at a small bump in the chute. A clawed hand lifted up the sheet as the owner of the limb glared at Ernest, he shot her a snide smirk before taking off his harness.

"Even if you had that under control, you'd need a chute to land, you aren't invincible." Ernest said with a tut, Rea went to respond but was collided into by her hair-dyed comrade, Max landing a few feet from the group.

"S-sorry Rea, my landings were never really my best, heh." The blue haired soldier chuckled nervously and quickly got off of Rea, who was be clicking her claws against the floor impatiently. John helped her up and brushed himself off, Rea muttering a few curses and 'lamest landing ever', despite this only being her second landing. "So, where's the danger at?" The half-shaved lad placed his hands on his hips as a large tusked mass charged into the building just before him, his eyes widening in shock as he froze and cried out. "Found it!" There would be a short silence as the large mass pried itself from the building with a low hiss, John standing a few feet from the creature classed as a 'Goliath', completely frozen as he waits for his teammates to clock onto the situation.

There would be a mechanical click before the creature was pelted at with a couple of glowing yellow pellets, they embedded themselves into the beasts skin and electrocuted it to have it stunned briefly, Max had fired a small pistol at the large mass and shot John a worried glance. Making use of this time John quickly moved away from the monster as he reached Ernest who was setting up a large weapon, he chucked a rifle at John without giving him a single glance, John gave a curt nod to his scarred teammate before firing at the Goliath as the stun wore off. Rea would simply watch the Goliath rubbing her chin with a clawed hand, deep in thought, she looked back at the deployed chutes on the ground and snapped her claws with a smirk.

The Goliath let out a menacing roar towards John as it charged in his direction, though it's attack was cut short as a large red pellet was fired into it's neck. The pellet had lodged itself into its skin before exploding, the Goliath let out a horrified screech as the air began to smell of burnt flesh and hair, Ernest had set up that gun and fired a deadly shot. Max made his way to John with his own rifle over his shoulder and began firing at the creature alongside him, covering Ernest as he reloaded.

"Rea we could use you right about now!" John called out, no answer, he rose a brow and glanced over to where Rea was last seen. Gone. Gone?! Right now?! His thoughts were cut short as the Goliath swung a claw at Max and John, Max paying attention moved out of the way but John was struck. He was knocked back into an abandoned vehicle with a crack as he was winded, he squints one of his eyes in pain as he held his side, it was hopefully just a light bruise since he was just within reach of the beasts hand. He felt a light sting on his face too, possibly a small cut.

"John!" Max looks over at him and quickly made his way over as Ernest gave them covering fire from the large weapon, he quickly laid his fellow soldier down and checked his side for any visible damage. Luckily it was just currently a light bruise and a somewhat deep scratch, but he wasn't sure if there was any internal damage yet. "Ok, just stay here, we'll treat your side soon." He assured his wounded friend as he placed a damp cloth on the wound, John gave a small nod as he exhaled slowly, trying to ignore the pain in his side he took the cloth from Max and continued to apply pressure. Max turned his attention to the Goliath as it crept closer to Ernest, taking in some damage from the smaller explosive pellets, he grabbed his pistol and began to fire at the brute. John's gaze then followed the rooftops as he noticed Rea on the top of a nearby building as the Goliath staggered back towards it.

"What is she doing?" He asked himself. Rea peered over the edge of the roof and eyes the monster with a light grin, she then jumped down along with the parachutes which then covered the monsters face, causing it to panic and charge aimlessly.

"Gotcha! Now go this way." She yanked on a line from the chute and pulled the beasts head to one side, trying to steer it away from her comrades as she clung onto it's back. It screeched and struggled against the parachute, blinded by the plastic surrounding its face as it tried to throw her off, charging past her teammates. "Damn you're frustrating." She growls, reaching into one of her pouches and pulled out a small gun, pressing it against the back of the Goliath’s neck as the gun whirrs. "And... sleep." It let off a loud bang as the Goliath crashed down to the ground, skidding to a halt halfway down the street before stopping. "Pfsh, I can't believe I had to do this." She jumped off the large beast and stretched out as she looked around, she glanced at the monsters side, seeing what looked like a brand beneath the fur. She brushed the fibres aside, revealing three numbers. "...#146? Hm." She stood back and read a nearby street sign. With a sigh she pressed a button on her collar, relaying her location to the originally assigned containment team, once they arrived she then made her way back to her troop.

Once she turned the corner she noticed Ernest would be looking over John's lower left section of his newly bandaged torso with a scanner, Max was putting cream on a small cut on the side of John's face before slapping a plaster on it.

“You need to pay attention John, any closer and your chest could have been torn wide open, not to mention your face." Max warned as he gave John a light slap on his shoulder before heading over to their equipment, beginning to pack up. John gave a pained grunt before looking over at Ernest who noticed his gaze.

"You're fine, no internal damage but be prepared for some heavy bruising, like Max said, any closer and you could have been cut open." He sighed then froze as a boasting laugh came from behind them.

"Oh man, did you guys see what I did? I rode that thing like it was a wild bull! Oh, if you’re worried about damages I avoided the buildings." Rea cheerily spoke as she made her way over with a light skip, her ears perked as she noticed John on the floor. "Oh shit, dude are you ok?" She knelt beside her friend, John went to respond but Ernest beat him to it.

"He is, but you disappearing like that nearly got him killed. You need to learn that your actions have consequences, he's lucky to only come out with a few scratches today, but what about next time?" Ernest gave Rea a serious look, though she only looked away from him, not exactly enjoying what she was being told. "You can't treat everything like a game, people's lives are at risk in this job, even yours. You can't just run around thinking you can't be touched." He let out an irritated sigh and stood up. "You can get up now John."

The younger teammate nodded and stood up, he staggered slightly but Rea grabbed his arm quickly and propped him up before letting him go. John gave her a small smile before shaking his head slowly.

"It's alright, I was concerned about where you were and I got distracted, we both messed up." He assured her and looked at Ernest who seemed to tilt his head up to the sky in response to his words, Max made his way to him and had a word with the larger man in private.

"...Probably complaining about how naive and immature I am." Rea mumbled.

"You mean how naive and immature we are." John corrected, making Rea look up at him a little confused.

"I mean, thanks, but Ernest is right." Oh she hated it so much to say that. "You're hurt and that's my fault. What if we lost you?" She inwardly winced at the thought, only to earn a friendly nudge from John as he groaned playfully.

“Ugh, I'd hate to have you deal with those two on your own, you need a bit of fun sometimes. Though maybe not so much on serious missions, yeah?" John teased, Rea rolled her eyes with a grin as he joked about the two grumps ahead of them then nudged him back after the last remark.

"Yeah, I'll work on it. I promise." She assured him, her gaze turning to Max who had finished talking to Ernest and made his way over.

"So an airship is on it's way, we'll be picked up in about 5 minutes, the asset has been contained and will be sent to the bunker for draining then rehabilitation." Max would note a few things down on his board, he then looked at John. "You'll be taken to the medical bay once on board. Rea, we're speaking to Commander Hark once we get home, she wants my report on this mission with you, directly." He simply stated, Rea let out an irritated groan.

“Hark is no fun." She crossed her arms and flicked her tail.

"Life isn't always fun I'm afraid, but don't worry, the report isn't so bad." He smiled down at her, she sighs and shrugs him off, not really wanting to hear it. “Look, you did good, way better than last time.” He saw Rea stiffen and look back at him.

“Don’t, the last mission I went on failed.” She reminded him with a small jab at his chest, Max let out a sigh and placed a hand on her shoulder, the two stared at each other for a moment as they internally exchanged words. Rea then smiled. “Alright, thank you, I just hope the General doesn’t freak out.”

“Despite the circumstances, I’m sure she’ll understand, communication is the lesson we’ve learned here today.” Max assured her, the loud thrumming of the airship’s engine broke through their conversation as it landed just metres away. Max pulled his pack up his shoulder then placed his hand on Rea’s back, leading her towards the ship John was being helped onto, she leaned against him as Ernest followed behind.

Mission: Success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first chapter to my own original story, oh I can’t wait to upload more!  
> The characters in this story are all designed and created by me for a story I was planning on making into a comic, maybe one day. ;)  
> I hope you enjoyed!


	2. Home sweet home

After it's long journey the aircraft soon landed down on a large base in the middle of a barren area, the base was about the size of a moderately small city, a few tents and smaller buildings surrounding a much larger building that made up a majority of the place. A small feminine grey figure would be on the deck of the courier looking down from the ship as she watched the teams disperse from the ship and let out a light sigh, her tail swaying happily, home sweet home.  
The ship would be given checks as were the vehicles that had been damaged by the Goliath, any wounded soldiers were now being taken down to the medical bays in the main base via a van, John would probably be in one of those vehicles.  
Max soon came out from the interior of the ship and swept his hair back as he exhaled slowly, he then looked at the edge of the ship noticing his smallest teammate sat down on the ledge, he hesitates before walking over to her quietly. The halflings ears perked once she heard footsteps, she could hear the weight in those steps and she let a small smile appear on her face.

"You suck at sneaking up on people." She put a claw just under her collar and run it around the rim as she huffed. "So, have you spoken to Hark yet?"

"No, we're doing that together remember? I wasn't sneaking up on you." He said with a chuckle and didn't bother to sit on the ledge, just crouch. He hated heights. "John's doing fine, no signs of infections, he'll be bunker bound for about a day at most." He smiled a little at the news, hoping it would lift his friends spirit, there was a short silence.

"Yeah, well John's always been tougher than he looked, you on the other hand." She poked his soft stomach with a claw, his face becoming slightly nervous. "Not so much." She grins and flick his chest playfully, Max let out a short chuckle, standing up before reaching his hand out to help her, she took his hand and pulled herself up. "Let's get going then." Max nods and lead her to the elevator.  
Once there they would wait for it to arrive. This felt awkward.

"...So, how did you take it down? You didn't damage much right?" Max tried to fill in the silence, he was curious about it anyway. Rea brought a claw to the side of her nose and tapped it.

"I can't tell you my secrets Max, you know that." She winks at him. "If it helps, I didn't break too much, like I said, I missed the buildings. I charged the gun with Korenite and put it to sleep." The elevator dings and the door slides open. Max lets Rea in first before following her in and pressed the button, she hesitated for a moment as unease grew in her mind, she then looked at Max with a concerned gaze. "Well, I... I saw something on the Goliath, normally I don't look at these things when draining them." Max looks down at her and rose a brow.

"Yeah? What was on it?" He seemed curious now, Rea normally only looked worried when there was trouble, she had a thing for keeping her feelings to herself.

"I saw a brand on it's side, numbers, #146." She looked away from Max and rubbed her grey arm nervously, her tail curling around her legs as she tried to take up as little space as possible in the elevator. "I'm curious if these things are linked to me."

"Because of the brand on your neck." Max finished the thought for her, she nods quietly. Max furrows his brows then gave a warm smile to Rea, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we'll figure all of this out soon. Even if you are linked to these things I doubt you'd be any more dangerous than they are. Even if you don't do it much, you are capable of thinking before you do things, you have morals and humanity. Those things aren't human at all, just driven by instinct, we can trust you." He ruffled her hair as she chuckled back at him.

"Yeah, I guess that's right." She looked down at the floor before her gaze moved to the doors as they slide open, they made it to a docking bay near the bottom of the craft. Vehicles and groups of soldiers making their way in and out of the ship, there were a handful of soldiers standing outside the door then stepped aside as they saluted Max and Rea. Max nodded his head back at the soldiers to acknowledge their salute, Rea gave them a two fingered salute as she followed Max out of the lift, a soldier squinted his eyes a little at her childish motion but stepped out of the lift quietly with her blonde comrade. "Just wished the other people here would trust me too." She mumbled as her and Max made their way down the ramp and towards the base, Max gave her a concerned glance but focused his attention back to the main bunker.

At the main entrance of the base where a few soldiers sat, Ernest would be talking with another soldier with a light grin, sharing stories about their missions as they had a few drinks between themselves. One of the sat soldiers would be arm wrestling with another, though they were quickly defeated, with a disgruntled huff they paid the winning soldier and moved towards the group of soldiers who would chuckle and pat the guys back.

"Oi, Ernest! Still tired from your special mission or are you able to take the king on?" The soldier boasted, he had short, wavy black hair with light brown eyes, his skin dark in tone as he sported a mocking grin towards Ernest, a bottle of beer by his feet. Ernest wafted his hand back and forth as he let out a deep chuckle.

"You want to lose to me? Fair enough." He got up from his chair and took a seat that had been used by the previously fallen soldier, he rests his elbow on the table and gave a smug toothy grin. "Guys, have the medical ward on quick dial, Vincent might need a gurney in a few." The soldier, now known as Vincent, narrowed his eyes towards Ernest and grasped his hand firmly before placing his elbow on the table.

"You win, I'll give you all my alcohol rations for a week." Vincent glared at the spikey haired brute before him.

"I'd offer you something, but I wouldn't need to... I'll double that bet." Ernest shrugged, Vincent gave a small nod and readied himself, one of the observing soldiers began a countdown. 3... 2... 1... Now! Ernest firmly kept his elbow to the table, holding his hand still as Vincent tried to move it with a heavy force, he had taken a defensive stance and stood his ground, his hand tightening against the bright eyed soldier as he stared at him calmly. Vincent seemed to catch Ernest's calm gaze and seemed taken aback by the sudden change in his behaviour, his arm’s stance weakening. Ernest's brows rose slightly as he saw his chance and took it, slamming Vincent's hand into the table.

"Agh! You bastard, you caught me off guard!" Vincent hissed as he held his hand, Ernest shrugged and stood silently, taking the soldiers bottle from the side of his leg and took a swig, much to Vincent's displeasure.

"That's two weeks Vinnie." He stuck his tongue out with an unphased expression before taking his leave, and the beer, into the base. Vincent grits his teeth and turned away from him as the group began to mockingly call him Vinnie in a childish manner, Ernest earning a small smirk on his face as he got amusement from hearing the soldier's predicament. As he walked further into the base continuing to take a few gulps from the bottle as he sighs in relief, damn he needed that, especially after that mission. Damn freak.  
Going further into the base he wandered past Max and Rea, Max had called over to him but Ernest just slightly rose his bottle back at him and carried on, Max frowning slightly.

"Rude." Max murmurs then leads Rea onwards, she would watch Ernests action with an unamused face before following up behind Max quickly.

Eventually Ernest had made it down a narrow hallway, there was a door with their unit tag on it and made his way in, walking into room E, his room. He turns on the light and glanced around the room, he had a few bottles here and there and a mini fridge tucked under a desk, most likely where the bottles came from. There were no windows in the room, just a TV, sink and a bed over the top of his desk. He placed the newly emptied bottle in the bin and grabs all of the older ones up, picking up the small bin from the ground and putting them all away in there.

"Such a slob." He insulted himself then glanced at the computer on his desk, he furrows his brow and sighs, getting out of his uniform into some more laid back clothing and sat at the desk. "Right, report time." He cracked his knuckles and looks through his files, writing up his own mission report.

Back at the main bunker, Rea and Max had made their way through the base to an office, a black wall and door standing between them and the Commander, Hark.  
Rea glanced up at Max with worry, though he simply returned it with a sway of his hand, after you.  
Rea exhaled calmly before inhaling and taking a hold of the handle, opening the door as she made her way in, her back straight and tail resting calmly behind her. Max not two steps behind as they lined up in front of a desk.

The desk had several monitors behind it, all of which displaying and replaying what had happened back in Ritson, the images of MU-0’s mission playing, some paused, others being replayed over and over. The chair before the screens then swivelled, revealing the grey maned grace, titled Commander Hark.

“So, who wants to start?” The Commander asked, her face not showing any signs of emotion. Rea stared blankly at her but her eyes betrayed her, flitting to Max before landing back on Hark.

“I’ll start,” Max quickly spoke up, Rea’s posture eased slightly but returned once Max began once more. “The mission was a success, the Goliath has been taken down with minimal damage done to the surrounding area, Rea used our equipment to blind the creature and drive it away from our team to reduce damage.” Hark’s gaze then drifted to Rea. “...But, as you know, one of our team members was minorly injured during the mission. Nothing one day in the infirmary wont fix.”

“John was injured,” Rea blurted, Max turned his attention down to her and sighed, letting her have her say, “I distracted him by leaving his visual, I should have communicated with my team and told them what I was doing, this was my mistake and it will not be repeated.” Rea kept her eyes locked onto Hark, who then stood up.

“Max, thank you for your report. Rea, as much as that single fact hurts to hear, he could have died had you not steered the Goliath away. You know how to improve the outcome next time, don’t let it happen again.” She made her way around the table and placed a firm hand on her shoulder, small purple sparks flicking at her hand as Rea stared ahead. “Hm. Max, escort Rea to the containment bunker, have her drain the Goliath and go to the dispersal chamber.” She removed her hand, curling her fingers after the tingling sensation of the sparks. “Rea, take care. Don’t forget how to breathe.” She then returned to her desk watching the screens, focusing her attention on the screen replaying John’s injury.

“Yes ma’am.” Max tapped Rea on her back and led her out of the door, once outside Rea crouched down and held her arms, breathing heavily. She must have been holding her breath once Hark took a hold of her shoulder. “I saw the sparks, are you ok?”

“No! N-no I’m fine, look… I was nervous, I’m ok. I know she wouldn’t have done anything but with John hurt, and what happened last time.” She sighs and stands back up. “I was just worried I’d never be able to leave this place again, I see so many things in the movies, in the news, books… I’ve always wanted to see a city lit up not by fire, but lights.” She smiled hopefully, looking back to her clawed hands and sighing. “You think I can go out and see it?”

“One day, when this is all over, I promise.” Max smiles and stepped forward, Rea taking in his stride. “So, like riding a bull huh?”

“Well, I’ve never rode one but I’d imagine a Goliath would be pretty close, have you ever rode a bull?” Rea stepped in front of Max, walking backwards, which looked so awkward with her raptor-like feet.

“Well no, can’t say that I have, I’m not crazy enough to try it.” He smirked at Rea who simply tutted and spun back on her heel, jumping onto a crate a short distance ahead and turning back to face him.

“Ok, one day we’ll go to an amusement park, with rides and a bull riding machine. You’ll be crazy enough by then right?” She clicked her killing claw against the crate, leaning forward as she looked down on him, resting her knuckles on her hip with a returning smirk.

“Hah, sure kid, sure.” He walked past her, waving his hand to follow him, the halfling jumping down from the crate and purring lightly as she joined Max’s side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter was very fun to make, showing off their home and how other soldiers play a part in it. So much fun ^^


	3. Take the weight off your shoulders

Journeying through the base, passing several bunkers to the back end of the base was a large, fenced off area, above the fence a light glistened around the area. A forcefield, the power source linking to the bunker Rea and Max were heading to, the building being the home to multiple wild noises. This was where all the monsters were taken to be drained of their energy source, Korenite, the energy source that powered the world. The monster's energy was then used to power the base and the very forcefield that contained the beasts. It was only to weaken them enough so they could be put into the rehabilitation zone, once the Arbitrators find a purpose for these creatures they’d be able to live their lives in peace, but that was wishful thinking, a lot of people want them eradicated entirely. There was a high pitched noise coming from the fence at all times, a frequency nobody but the beasts within could hear, only for a short range though. Rea found the noise irritating at most, she only had to come here to absorb and dispense, the more time she spends away from the noise the better.

Rea and Max soon entered the building, the silent noise of the containment field causing Rea’s ears to draw back, she scoffed then made her way past the clearance check. There was no need for a check as she was probably the most obvious agent they had, so when it came to access points she could make her way through them without needing to flash a badge.  
She made her way to the Goliath’s holding point, a magnetic neck brace and wristbands attached to the beast, a crane keeping it pinned down. The beast was still under a deep sleep, the guards that were surrounding the pinned creature were heavily armed, whether or not the weapons were deadly was down to the setting they chose. Right now? Stun.

“Think you can handle a big one?” Max asked, keeping behind a painted caution line, Rea looked at the sedated beast and replied with a shrug, stepping to its side. Her hand tracing over it’s fur to reveal the inked numbers, Max looking over the brand then back at Rea with unease, could the other beasts be branded too?

“I have drained similar sized ones, just… This one is pretty big.” She rubs her neck at the sheer size of the Goliath, it earned that name for sure. She then brought her attention back to the brand. “Any ideas on where it came from? Maybe even get a match on the ink used for it?”

”Afraid not, as far as the analysis charts have gone,” Max took a clipboard from one of the guards, reading through what had been scribbled down on the forms. “Just your basic overall summary... Hm.”

“Hm?” Rea repeated back to him, going back over the caution line to what was considered a safe distance. “What do you mean ‘hm’?”

”Hm as in this wasn’t the first brand that was found on these things, look there.” Max taps his finger on a section that read ‘tagged like the rest’, Rea snatched the board from him to look at the file. “Like the rest? What are all of them branded?”

”Sure sounds like it, I’ll have to take a closer look when I go in there tomorrow.” Rea continued to skim through the file, they sure went into detail on every small thing about these creatures. “Makes me wonder what my file is like.” She glanced at the blonde who held his hands up.

“I’m just as clueless as you, I can only account as to what I’ve written in there myself.” He let out a small grunt as Rea pressed the clip against his chest, he took it and sighs. “Look it’s not like I can’t do my job, you know you could always write up files on us guys, see how we like it.”

”I do, it’s all in here.” The halfling tapped a claw on her temple. “Besides, I know I’m technically on the same level as these things when it comes to this place. Why do you really think they carry guns in here?” She gestures to the surrounding guards and turned her attention back on the Goliath, making her way across the safety line once more. The stocky blonde on the other side glanced around the room and shook his head in disapproval.

“You know exactly why they have the guns in here, I’m not going to bring it up so you can blame me for your outbursts.” He crossed his arms. “You’re better than that.”

Rea huffs and places her hands on the Goliath’s flank, her eyes focusing on the mass in front of her before her eyelids grew heavy, darkness surrounding her vision before engulfing it. Her fingertips began to flicker with small, purple sparks, her ears drawing back as the sparks then began to crawl up her arms. Like tendrils of electricity, they coiled around her shoulder spines, the energy being absorbed into her body as the sparks from her fingers began to swell.

The guards stood to the side, watching the process as usual, their weapons at the ready should the Goliath break free, or something worse.

“Rea, maybe you should take it in parts?” Max went to step forward but withdrew as a spark lashed at the ground, causing a small split in the concrete. “Rea?”

“Stop talking, I’ve got this.” Rea growled and continued to drain the monster of its energy, the energy wrapping around her arms getting denser and more violent. Rea dropped to one knee and opened her eyes as her pupils dilated, the pure adrenaline running through her body would have worn anyone else out by now. “I’ve got this.” She furrowed her brows and drove her claws into the beast's side, the creature letting out a pained whine. Breaking free from her body’s struggle, her eyes moved down to her hands before tearing her claws free, the energy then latching onto it’s new host as Rea placed her hands onto the floor. She was breathing heavily, her tail limp on the ground.

“Rea?” The guards began to lift their weapons until Max held his hand out, this wasn’t the time for idiots to aim guns at her. The smaller teammate began quietly laughing to herself with a ragged breath.

“Heh, sorry, I… I guess I got carried away, it helps draw more Korenite out to speed up the process.” She stands up and nearly falls back, Max passing the caution line to grab her shoulders and hoist her up. Her ears lowered as she rubbed her head, small sparks tracing from her hand to her head.

“It’s ok, I got you… I told you to drain it in parts Rea.” Max sighs. “Come on, let’s get that stuff out of you before it drives you mad like them.” Rea’s ears perked towards him, her eyes accusing him of multiple things, with her pupils drawn so thin it made the man internally tremble. “I… I didn’t mean that you would... you know.” He rubbed his neck then sighed, he knows he’ll regret saying that later, a cheerful laugh broke his thoughts.

“C’mon panic attack, chill.” Rea giggles. “I’m ok, just a bit charged, I didn’t mean to stare like that.” She stands upright and brushes herself off, a happy smile forming on her face. The guards had put their guns down by now and had begun preparations to relocate the drained Goliath to the paddock, it was now docile.

“I was just worried, you’ve never taken that much before, though it’s good to see you push the limit. Training to manipulate Korenite will be useful.” The blonde agent noticed Rea was already making her way for the power grid, she sure must have been eager to get rid of all that energy.

It hurt, it felt so painful to move so slowly, the energy rushing through her body wanted out so badly. Korenite was nothing like normal electricity, this burned skin from just a lick, it corrupts and warps what it touches. The fact she could even contain this much energy was down to her genetics, maybe it was what she was made for, a power bank… She tried to put her thoughts elsewhere, focusing only on ejecting the energy from herself somewhere safe and where it would be put to good use. Containing the ‘mad’ ones. She flexed her claws almost instinctively, her hand grabbing the door as she zoned back into reality, gasping for air. How long was she holding her breath for? When did they even reach the power grid?

“You might want to push the handle down.” Max helped the dazed agent open the door.  
The room was filled with lights and dashboards, nozzles and all the scientific gizmos and gadgets. There was a heavily reinforced wall with multiple metres and readers that explained the power cores stability, a team of agents looked over at Rea before nodding at her, she nodded back. One of the agents wandered over to Rea, they were wearing a hazmat suit and held out a hand to Max. “Agent Darnell.” The agent pressed a button over the helmet, revealing a young woman's face.

“Maxis,” She chuckled, focusing her attention back down on Rea who placed a heavy hand on her arm. “Oh, right, come.” She leads Rea towards a door, Max follows them up until the door is shut in front of him. “You know the protocol Max, wait out there.” Darnell called from behind the door, she watched Rea as she made her way to the power core, there were two vertical handlebars connected to a power unit that led to the core. 

The core was a beautiful circle of energy which ran through a transparent, rubber ring, the bright purple energy inside circling round and round, charging the metal plates that held it up. However, being in the room without protection supposedly drove people mad, the energy radiating from it caused a chemical reaction within human biology, a bio-poison that attacks your mind then your body. It wasn’t pretty. 

“You know the routine.” She insisted as she flicked a few switches and twisted some knobs, pressing a button to open the relays to the handlebar. “There, it’s ready for you now.”

“Took long enough.” The halfling grunted and took a hold of the handlebars. “Let there be light.” She hissed as her arms bristled with violent static, the Korenite flushing towards the conductive bars and through the cables with a rattling screech. The core began to brighten as the energy fought against the income, however that tussel was short lived once the flow of power was restored. “Close the relay Darnell!” Rea shouted over the noise, the agent pulling down a switch which shut off the connection between the bars and the core. “Whew, that… was loud.” Rea chuckles and rubbed one of her ears, Darnel handed Rea a glass of water, which she eagerly accepted.

“So, the ‘Goliath’ huh?” Darnell chuckled and stepped into an exit chamber, the hazmat suit being cleansed of any remaining Korenite energy, Darnell shortly stepping out of it as Rea followed her through. “How big was it?” She brushed through her curly red hair with a comb before tying it up in a ponytail, placing her glasses back on the rim of her nose.

“About 3 Ernests stacked on top of each other, acted like it too.” Rea chortled to herself, Darnell returning a small laugh.

“I could only imagine, are the boys giving you a hard time?” She asks as they enter the break room. “Oh! Hey, 340%, good job.” Liv looked at her wrist reader then raised a hand, Rea happily high fived the agent.

“Oh please, I’m the handful, haven’t you heard?” Rea looked into the room and let out an irritated sigh.

“The mouthful too.” Ernest added, he must’ve made his way over after dealing with the subordinates. “Darnell.” She simply nodded in return. “Rea, we are scheduled for training tomorrow, don’t be late. Max, can we head back to discuss the lesson?”

“Of course, Rea, don’t get into trouble.” Max warned her before leaving alongside Ernest. Once they had left Rea let out a loud scoff.

“And why couldn’t he have just left a note on my door? He does realise it would have been faster to just do that right?” Rea rolled her eyes and sighs. “He’s so weird.”

“Oof, that’s gotta be rough coming from you.” Darnell jabbed at Rea’s side, causing her to jerk away with a laugh and retreat to one of the office chairs.

“Hah! Well I’d know all about being weird.” She winked then swivelled around to look at the empty break room, her ears lowered before halting and looking back up at Darnell. “...So, Liv, what have you been up to?”

Darnell looked caught off guard. “Wow, Liv, it’s been a while since I heard that.” She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Been a while since I’ve visited you at work.” Rea shrugs, there was a short pause before ‘Liv’ spoke up.

“Well I’ve been managing the power dispersal, we’ve had to offload a lot of energy and donate it to the cities.” She smiled slightly. “I’ve been looking more into the Korenite material, it’s crazy how malleable this element is. Liquid, solid, both, or just pure energy. It’s amazing, and the fact you can handle being around and possibly manipulate them all is impressive.”

“Oh god, the last time I tried to manipulate Korenite I blew up a tank, Hark really let me have it.” She laughs nervously before growing silent, earning a concerned look from Liv as she sat with her. “...John was injured today, I stepped away from the group and he was distracted looking for me, took a hard hit to the side.” She looked down.

“Hey, c’mon Stripes, you know it was an accident. He knows too, hell I’m sure he’s already told you this was nothing to worry about, why are you still lingering on it?” The agent took Rea’s hand and placed another one on top of it. “Instead of focusing on what has happened, do what you can to avoid it happening again, it’s what me and the science team have to put up with.” She snorts, cracking another smile from her pointy eared friend.

“Thanks… Red.” She winked, then stood up. “Well, I need to get back to work before the others form a search party, I might hop over to see John with them later. Wanna come?”

“Oh I would Rea, I have to just manage the core whilst it stabilises, you have my channel number. Call me and I’ll see what I can do.” Liv stepped with Rea to the door.

“How can I forget such a naughty number?” Rea chuckled then made her way out. “Later Red!”

“See you, Stripes!” Liv’s voice trailed to Rea as she started towards her home bunker.  
After such a long day she hadn’t realised she’d been ignoring her stomach, it was dinner time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rea’s got to have some girl friends y’know? Her team is such a sausage fest.


End file.
